<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Slow Beginning by nerdguy3000</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321687">A Slow Beginning</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdguy3000/pseuds/nerdguy3000'>nerdguy3000</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Leo and Alba [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brain Damage, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Leo Fitz Feels, Leo Fitz-centric, Post-Season/Series 01, Service Dogs, Sezuires, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:28:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321687</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdguy3000/pseuds/nerdguy3000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the damage his brain sustained, Fitz has been having seizures. Terrified at thought of being left alone or not know when they’re going to happen, May finds a solution. </p>
<p>Alba, a 2 year old Golden Retriever, is the solution.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Leo and Alba [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Slow Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/18070454">Compiled: The Entire Main Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Series</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea">literally_no_idea</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I don’t have first hand knowledge of seizures or service dogs but I did a lot of research. This story won’t be 100% accurate but if you do notice something that is entirely wrong please tell me.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">A few months after coming out of his coma, Fitz lay on his hospital bed, staring down at his hands as his left hand shaking more than his right. He tried to take a steadying breath as he raised his head to look at Jemma. His mouth wordlessly moved, not being able to find the words and form them. He eventually gave up and just looked up, with confusion in his eyes, at Jemma.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry Fitz, I need to go see my parents. It's been too long.” She looked at him with the same sad look she had given him every day since he woke up.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">”But I- you- but-“ His halting sentence was cut short has his whole body stiffened, Jemma jumped into action, she called for help while grabbing the stopwatch that sat next to his bed. She then flattened his bed as the convulsions began, with the help of the other medical staff they rolled Fitz onto his side and held him gently so he didn’t hurt himself. For the next few minutes, Jemma kept glancing at the stopwatch, as it inched closer into dangerous territory she began to think of the medication they may need to use. After two minutes and thirty-four seconds, the convulsions stopped and they lower Fitz down onto his back. Tears welled in her eyes and Jemma ran from the room.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">In her haste to leave she wasn’t paying attention and barrelled straight into May, who had been walking towards Fitz’s room to check on him. She had taken an interest in looking after the young engineer, she knew what it was like to lose yourself. She had been helping with both his physical and speech therapy. Now she found herself holding a sobbing biochemist, the way her life had changed surprised even her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Jemma?” She asked softly, “what happened? Is Fitz okay?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“He... his seizures are still persisting, even with the medication he’s on.” Jemma let out a shaky breath and wiped the tears from her eyes with the heel of her hands before continuing. “I’m just scared that he’s not going to get better. Or he’s going to have on when someone’s not around and he’ll end up injuring himself. And I’m about to go away. It’s just getting so overwhelming.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">May listened patiently, knowing how important it was for Jemma to be allowed to vent her feelings. She knew the young scientist kept a lot to herself, especially around Fitz, not wanting to hurt him even more. Once the young women in front of her calmed down May starting talking, “Jemma, he’s going to be okay. He has the whole team here for him and I’m working on something to help with the seizures”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Jemma looked at May, confused, “what do you mean?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I’ve got some contacts and I’m in the process of getting a trained seizure alert dog, to look out for Fitz when we can’t. She should be here in a few weeks,” May said, she had been working on this for a while. Even since it seemed that Fitz seizures were going to be a normal part of life.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“That’s very quick!” Jemma remarked, shocked by how prepared the older woman said. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I called in a few favours and luckily they were already training a dog. He’s going to be okay Jemma, you need to focus on the mission.” May knew getting Jemma to focus on something else was the best way to keep her from spiralling. To her surprise, the operative was engulfed in a massive hug. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Thank you,” Jemma whispered then released May and walked off to her bunk to finish packing the rest of the personal belongings she was taking. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">May stood there, shocked. Then quickly shook herself out of it and continued on to see Fitz. It was time for some more speech therapy.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Three weeks later, armed with a duffle bag and a beautiful golden retriever May walked through the corridors of the Playground. Ignoring the looks she was receiving from everyone. One look from her and they all scurried back to whatever job they had been working on. It had taken her less time than she expected to clear it with the Director. She had come prepared with pros and cons, set it all out and Phil had agreed. She knew it was partially because of his guilt it having put Fitz in the field in the first place but if it helped Fitz she didn’t mind. The only people who had been told were Skye, Tripp and Mack. They were the closest to Fitz, all helping in some way with his recovery, and they were his friends. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She approached his medical room, he had yet to move into his bunk as there were still concerns over his seizures and what could happen if he was alone. Looking in she saw him working on a tablet, part of his rehabilitation was using programs to help retrain his brain, games that helped with memory and mental agility. He was sat in pyjamas, they were the only clothes he could manage, his hands not steady enough to manage the buttons of a shirt or the zip on a fly. He looked up when he heard the door open, his face filling with confusion as he saw the dog. May sat the bag on a seat by the door then walked over to Fitz, the dog following closely behind her.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Hey Fitz, this is Alba. She going to help you. She’s a seizure detection service dog, who also has other training that should be useful to you.” May motioned and Alba moved towards Fitz, who in turn let her sniff him then started to stroke her head. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“May I- ummm- you- Thank you,” Fitz said, emotional filling his voice. He had felt trapped and scared, never knowing when a seizure might hit. This would finally give him a step towards independence. He could cry with joy.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Now it’s going to take a week or so of training before you can work with her on your own, then you can finally move into your bunk.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Can we.. hmm... be- be- start now?” Fitz said, looking down at Alba as if she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And it was true, her beauty was only rivalled by one person and she wasn’t here.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">May nodded.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Over the next week, they had a lot of training session. May taught him the basics first, how to walking with Alba, using both leashes, one over the shoulder and one standard leash. She taught him how to use the heel command, both with words and actions. They took a slow walk around the base, practising that, letting Fitz feel Alba by his side. During the second session, while May was still teaching him how to walk with Alba she did her first seizure alert, at first Fitz thought she was acting up and she started to paw at his leg.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Ummm, is she- is she supposed to uhh do that?” Fitz asked, pointed at Alba. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">May nodded, “that’s her altering to a seizure, let’s get you somewhere comfortable. But first, reward her.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Fitz pats her head, the fear of the impending seizure making his words come more difficultly than usual. They were in the training room usually used for combat training for some privacy so May led Fitz to the padded mats and helped him lie down. She could see the fear in his eyes, she knew how much this scared him, so she just starts talking to him.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Now if I wasn’t here, Alba would go and find someone or bark to alter someone. Then bring them back, everyone on the base will be informed if Alba approaches them without you then they’re to go with her immediately.” She could feel him calm down so continued on, her voice soft and comforting, “see this pouch? It contains the stopwatch so anyone with you can time it and make sure it hasn’t gone on too long. I was going to do this tomorrow but Alba can also retrieve things for you.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">May turned to the dog, pointed to a table with water bottle on and said, “water.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Fitz watched closely as Alba walked over and gently picked up and water bottle in her mouth and made her way quickly back to May who took it from the dog and praised her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Just as May was about to continue talking Fitz went stiff and his eyes closed, she started the timer and began to gently hold Fitz in place and to her surprise Alba lay down on the other side of Fitz, helping hold him in place as he started shaking. The minutes ticked on and May forced herself to remain calm, she hated seeing Fitz this fragile. After two minutes fifty-four seconds Fitz body stilled, May moved to grab the water but Alba stayed by the young engineer’s side. As he regained consciousness, he began to absently stroke Alba’s fur, finding some comfort in the softness. May wordlessly helped him sit up, bringing the water bottle to his mouth as his hands were shaking too much for him to hold it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Let’s call it a day.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Over the next few days, they continued to work on those tasks, having Alba retrieve things for him or having her pick up things his shaking hands dropped. She continued to alert him to seizures, catching all but one over the next few days. May had been with him everything, taking time out of her regular duties to help train him. She knew how important this was for him. After a week of training, she was finally given an opportunity to show Fitz how Alba could help calm him down. After a particularly bad seizure, one that lasted almost to the danger point Fitz had been left feeling frustrated. What didn’t help was the fact that it happens in the kitchen, just after lunch, so there were a lot of onlookers. As he sat up against the wall and May sent everyone away with a look, he could feel the tears filling his eyes, in frustration he starting shaking his leg and hit his fist against his thigh while the other one swiped angrily at his eyes. Alba moves from her place, sitting at his legs and put her head under the arm that was swinging violently at his leg.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">It focused Fitz but he just pushed her away, not wanting to hurt her. However she was persistent, every time he tried to push her away she came back. Eventually, he stopped fighting it and put his hand in her fur. Then Alba moved and lay across his legs. He starting to take some steadying breaths and let his hands fall on her. May watched all this happening but didn’t comment, she knew what Alba was doing and knew that Fitz wouldn’t hurt her.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Once he had his breathing under control, May knelt down next to him, “this is called deep pressure therapy. It used to help people calm down when they get overwhelmed. She also trained to stop you from hurting yourself.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">He looked up, shocked, “May, I- thank- thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Come on, you should rest.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Two weeks into the training May took Fitz to his bunk, she wanted to show him to adaptions that had been made and teach him the commands. They arrived at the door and Fitz noticed, unlike all the other doors, his had a blue rope attached to it. He looked at May for an explanation.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I know gripping things can be hard, so this way Alba can do all the work.” She turned to the dog who was sat wagging her tail, she pointed at the door and said, “door.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alba happily walked over, grabbed the rope in her mouth and pulled. This opened the door a little and she put her nose in the gap and nudged it open. Fitz walked through and took in the room. There was a large bed in the middle, a desk off to the side that held his laptop and other tech, a wardrobe and chest of drawers (the handles covered in soft foam). Sat at the foot of his bed was a large dog bed, a box lay next to the bed with various leashes, harness and equipment for Alba. The door into his bathroom also had a rope on it, there was a pad on the floor by the light switch, there was a lower table that kept all of his medications and a red button on the wall that said alert. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">It took him a moment to process everything that was in there, it was amazing and he couldn’t believe the effort that had been put into it. He walked forward mouth open in awe, Alba walked beside him as normal, wagging her tail.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">May sat down on the desk chair and watched as Fitz looked around, she knew it was a lot but this would give him independence and it was important that he knew how it worked. He stumbled over to the bed and looked over at her. Since his injury, she’s started to better understand his silent looks. This one was asking for help, he wanted to understand but didn’t know where to start.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“So, you know what the ropes are for?” He nodded. “Next is the pad by the door, that’s the light switch. The command is ‘Alba, Light’.” With that Alba trotted over and pawed it and the lights turned off, May said it again and the lights came back on. “I know you’ve been struggling with migraines so if the lights are too much and you’re struggling to move you can use that command.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Next is the medications. As well as the normal pillboxes, there’s a little bag on that table so if you’re struggling to move because of a migraine or coordination then you can point and say ‘Alba, med’, she’ll bring the bag to you.” While May continued and Alba did exactly that, bringing the bag to May. She praised her and moved on.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Then there’s the alert button. I’m sure you can understand the command and why I’m not saying it. It’ll send an alert to my watch or if I’m out the base, to Skye, Mack or Trip. It’s to be used if you need it, don’t try and put on a brave face. You need it you use it okay?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, I will. I will- no appreciate everything.” The look in his eyes was so sincere. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You deserve to be looked after Fitz.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The final thing May wanted to teach Fitz before he could work with Alba on his own, was blocking. It was something that could keep people away from Fitz. He tended to get overwhelmed in big groups, to much information to process. They had been working on it in the training room. Getting Alba to block May and occasionally she had asked Daisy or Mack to help so Fitz could get a sense of how Alba could help. In a situation, with multiple people, she would walk in a circle around Fitz as he walked at a slow and steady pace. When it was just one person Alba would block on the side the person was on, to keep the distance.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Today was going to be the final test of everything that Alba and Fitz had learnt together. They were going to walk from the training room, though a busy lab, though the kitchen and then to his room where he’d finally be left alone with Alba. It was a lot for Fitz to think about but he’d been doing so much better with Alba at his side.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You know the route,” May began, handing the over shoulder leash to Fitz, his hands were shaking quite badly today, “I’m going to be close but it’s all up to you.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Fitz nodded, slipping the leash over himself and placing a hand on Alba’s head to calm himself. He could do this.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Alba heel.” He started to walk, it was a slow pace as that is all the could manage when he got to the door of the training room he realised it was closed. He knew that he couldn’t open it himself today but also noticed a rope attached to it, he had started to notice more ropes around the base, on rooms that he would often visit. He pointed, “d- door.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alba opened the door then returned to heel, Fitz rubbed her head then left the training room. It took him a moment to remember which direction to go but started off in the direction of the lab. They passed a few agents in the corridors but none approached them but as they neared the lab Fitz saw the number of people in there. He stopped, knowing this was going to be a challenge. His hand started bouncing against his thigh but Alba nudged his hand and he stopped looking down at her. Taking a steadying breath he reached down and undid her leash from the harness. He would need her to do a full circle block and she couldn’t do that with the leash. May looked on pleased at what she was seeing.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Heel.” Fitz walked towards the lab, Alba following contently at his side. They reached the entrance to the lab and the door was open, taking a deep breath Fitz stepped into his toughest challenge yet. As soon as they were in Fitz said, “block.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alba moved with precision and grace in a slow circle around Fitz as he made his way through the lab. The scientist paid him little attention but made room for him and Alba. As overwhelming as it was Fitz was glad to be back in the lab, even briefly. It reminded him of how things were before. They exited the lab through the other open door and as they got out the other side Fitz let out a long breath. It had been mentally taxing, there was a lot of information to take in but he had coped. Leaning over Fitz gave Alba lots of praise and pats, she had done such a good job but they weren’t finished. With the leash still around his body, he grasped the clip in his hand and made to reattach it. However as he grew more tired his hands got worse, he struggled to get it in place. He internally shook his head, it was another test from May, could he ask for help? At that moment Trip walked around the corner.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Trip? Could you- umm- I need-“ he let out a sigh and Trip looked at him patiently, “need help.” Fitz looked down at the lead in his hand hoping that the specialist could connect the dots that his mouth couldn’t.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, of course, man,” Trip said moving forward, having worked out what it was Fitz needed. He bent down, taking the clip from the engineers shaking hands and attaching it to Alba’s harness. Fitz nodded his thanks and Trip smiled back, headed on his way. May smiled internally, having been watching the whole exchange. It was important that Fitz didn’t try and do things on his own.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Moving towards the kitchen Fitz could hear Skye and Mack talking. Making the hand gesture for block Fitz entered the room. He was here to get some water, it was almost time to take more medication. As Fitz entered the room Skye and Mack turned to look at him. Seeing where Alba was positioned they understood that he wasn’t in a very talkative mood when he was blocking from that distance he was usually very tired.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Hey Turbo, you need something?” Mack asked, keeping the distance between him and Fitz, not wanting to overwhelm the younger man. Fitz nodded, struggling to verbalise. The larger man understood it hadn’t been that long since they had eaten lunch so he probably wasn't hungry, “water?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Fitz nodded and Skye smiled and grabbed a bottle from the fridge, she approached slowly, while smiling. “Here you go.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She tried to hand it to him but his hands didn’t want to cooperate. He pointed to the dog and said, “Alba.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Skye understood, she brought the bottle down to Alba’s mouth and gave the command, “carry.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alba took it, May had given Skye, Trip, Mack and Coulson some instructions on how to act around Alba and some commands they could use. It was important for helping Fitz, especially with him struggling to speak. Again Fitz nodded his thanks and moved on. There were a few more corridors to go down but he was almost back to his room, a place where he could sleep in peace. It was mostly empty at this time of day, many people were working or training.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">They were only around a minute away from his bunk when Alba started pawing at his leg and dropped the bottle on the floor. Fear gripped him for a moment then he began to run through what he needed to do. He got on the ground, on his side, pulling the stopwatch from Alba’s vest, he had worked out if he could hold it in a certain way then he could start it as the seizure began and his muscles stiffened. Then he ripped the Velcro of the leash so she was free to run off, “get help.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">With that command, Alba ran off, back along the corridors they had just walked down. She ran into Mack, exiting the kitchen. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Hey there, not Turbo?” Mack asked concerned, then Alba started back the way she came and Mack knew that he should follow. He ran down the corridors, lead by Alba, hoping that Fitz was okay. When he found Fitz, he was shaking, moving quickly he positioned himself at Fitz’s head holding him steady so he didn’t hurt himself, Alba curled up at Fitz side, keeping him steading. Retrieving the stopwatch from Fitz's hand Mack looked at it, only forty-seven seconds so far. After a minute and a half, the convulsing stopped. Mack relaxed slightly, he was out of danger, he just had to wait for him to regain consciousness. After a minute or so Fitz wearily opened his eyes. He took a moment to adjust to his surroundings and process what was happening. He looked up, “Mack.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“That’s right Turbo, you doing okay?” Mack asked, helping Fitz get himself to a sitting position. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah um- help- room, no umm-“ Fitz was struggling, with the exertion and the seizure he was truly exhausted, barely able to form a sentence, never mind making it to his room.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You need help getting to your room?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Fitz nodded</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Okay Turbo, hold on.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Mack put an arm under Fitz's shoulders and stood up, lifting the other man to his feet. Fitz made the gesture of heel and Alba fell into pace beside them. It was slow going but eventually, they made it to Fitz bunk, it stood out given the rope on the handle. As they approached Mack gave Alba the command to open it. Mack lead the young engineer in, sat him on the bed then moved to pick up his medication. After handing it to Fitz and giving him some water, Mack turned his attention to Alba. He gave her praise and took the harness off her, putting it in the box with her others before pointing to her bed which she happily curled up in. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Looking back at Fitz, he saw the man had taken his pills and lay down on his bed. Having been in workout clothes Mack just let him be. Walking to the door Mack turned off the light and said, “get some rest Turbo.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">In the darkness, Fitz heard his phone buzz from the nightstand. He decided he should check it in case it was important. It was just a simple message from May.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <em> <span class="s2">Get some rest, you and Alba deserve it. You did good</span> </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All feedback is appreciated </p>
<p>Comment what situations you’d like me to put them in next!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>